Milton Keynes house party murders: Family of victims tell of 'own life sentence'

Ben Gillham-Rice (left) and Dom Ansah (right) died after being attacked at a party

The family of one of two teenagers stabbed to death at a birthday party have been "left with our own life sentence", a court has heard.

Dom Ansah and Ben Gillham-Rice, both 17, were fatally stabbed at the party in Milton Keynes on 19 October 2019.

Charlie Chandler, 23, Clayton Barker, 20, and two 17-year-olds were convicted of murder last month, while Earl Bevans, 23, pleaded guilty at the start of the trial.

They will be sentenced on Wednesday.

Chandler and Barker, both of Bletchley, Milton Keynes, and the two unnamed teenagers were also found guilty of two counts of wounding other partygoers.

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Bevans, of no fixed address, had also pleaded guilty on those counts.

Charlie Chandler (left) and Clayton Barker (middle) were found guilty of murder, while Earl Bevans (right) pleaded guilty at the start of the trial

On Tuesday, Jason Rice, Ben's father, told Luton Crown Court his son was "infectiously funny".

He said: "As parents we only wanted to protect, love and watch Ben grow, explore and fulfil his dreams and ambitions. All of these have been taken away."

He said Ben's family's hearts had "been shattered like a piece of glass into thousands of pieces" and he called for the killers to be given life sentences.

"When they killed Ben, they killed us. Their actions mean that we are left with our own life sentence," he said.

Tracey Ansah, Dom's mother, said nearly 500 people had attended her son's funeral.

"My heart breaks every day waking up and feeling this gut-wrenching pain," she said.

The boys were stabbed in Archford Croft in Milton Keynes in October 2019

Mrs Ansah said Dom would "never be a father, an uncle".

"He will never pass his driving test, he will never open that barbershop he wanted, he will never get the chance to do anything again," she said.

The court previously heard the attackers were connected to the B3 gang in west Bletchley, Milton Keynes.

After a tip-off that people associated with the rival M4 group were at the party, they went to Archford Croft, Emerson Valley.

Ben was stabbed six times, while prosecutor Charlotte Newell said Dom received 47 injuries before later dying in hospital.

She said the "savage" attacks had been orchestrated within a short period and involved at least three weapons.